Category: Theology Page 39 of 67

Obtaining our Presuppositions from Scripture

On March 26, 2008

When coming to the Scriptures, at least when we first start reading them, we all in some way read them through our cultural lens or the lens through which we want reality to exist. By nature, we all have assumptions about reality, human nature, the attributes of God, that are shaped and formed by the culture in which we grow up in. We also can just have personal presuppositions that may not be shaped by the culture, but are just thoughts we have about the way things are. Regardless, we have all of these preset beliefs through which we view the world and through which we view and read Scripture itself. It is very easy to go to the Scriptures with these assumptions and find passages (taken out of their respective context) that support these preset beliefs. However, the Scriptures themselves challenge every single one of our natural presuppositions.

For instance, some people have the presupposition that all mankind is basically good and can perfect himself. Therefore, based upon this, the person will make choices, make judgments, endorse political policies, and will think in such a way that supports this particular understanding of man. In addition, this person, when reading or preaching the Scriptures will ignore all of the hard, difficult, negative passages that cut against this presupposition, because that is what they have pre-decided about the nature of man.

However, Scripture is emphatic that we are depraved from the inside out. Jesus said Himself that it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean but what comes out of him, meaning from his heart. Our natures are radically depraved, more than we can even believe. Romans 3:9-18 nails this on the head. When compared to the glory of God, there is no one good, not even one. This passage is the thesis statement of the Scriptures commentary on how sinful we really are.

Another example is predestination. Some people have pre-decided (no pun intended) from the very beginning that God in no way predestines some to salvation while justly leaving others to condemnation, though it is clearly written out in Romans 9. Therefore they will either ignore the passages that have the word “predestined” in them as something that was not intended in the English language, something we just can’t understand at all, or as something written only to the particular group the letter was intended. But more commonly, I’ve found, people will acknowledge that God predestines and then make a qualification that puts God in our debt: He chooses those who choose Him. That way it just sounds Biblical.

They say, “God chooses those in eternity past who He foreknows are going to choose Him.” Is that presupposition from Scripture though? The proponents would say of course. I ask, Where? They usually reply with Romans 8:29 which says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” And I ask, Does that text say anything about the concept of God choosing those who choose Him? No. But they say, Yes, the word “Foreknow” says it all. Ah, but is that a presupposition your bringing to the text, and in particular to the word foreknow, that is no where to be found in Scripture, and definitely not in this verse?

The right thing to do in this case would be to study, research and understand the Biblical meaning of the word “know” throughout the Scriptures: God intimately sets His affection upon particular people. He says to Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” (Amos 3:2) So those whom God “fore-loved” is the best way to read Romans 8:29-30. The passage does not say, “For those whom he foreknew [would choose Him] he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,” but rather simply, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” The word foreknew here is a verb as opposed to an adjective, it is something God does (rather has done). God foreknows specific people. God doesn’t just know data about people in the Scriptures (of course He knows that, He’s all-knowing!). Rather, the meaning of this is that He knows particular people, intimately, and those He knows intimately, He predestines to conformity with Christ. So now our presupposition is that God has fore-loved particular people and that can be found all over the Old and New Testaments, whereas God choosing those who choose Him can in no way be found as a stated, written-out presupposition in Scripture.

These are just a couple of examples why it is important for us all to obtain the fundamental beliefs we hold from Scripture and not our own thinking. We should always be challenging our assumptions in light of Scripture to see if they pass the test. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” Lord help us, by Your power, to do exactly that. We must read Scripture to know what it says about how we should think about ourselves, God, and redemption. It is how we conform ourselves to what it says, in order that we may be conformed to the image of Christ.

Authors@Google: Tim Keller

By David Westerfield

On March 25, 2008

In Apologetics, Culture, Philosophy, Theology, Video

Why Do We Cheat on Our Spouses? A Today Show Expert Has the Answer

By David Westerfield

On March 19, 2008

In Culture, Philosophy, Theology

As I was walking out the door this morning, the Today Show (no I don’t watch regularly) had a piece pertaining to cheating spouses and why it is or isn’t acceptable. The reason this was even brought up on the show was because of the new NY Governor (replacing the former governor who has been criminally indicted for being involved with a prostitution ring) admitting extra-marital affairs earlier in his marriage. In addition, his wife cheated on him as well. According to the “expert” they had on this morning, we need to be honest with our human nature when it comes to cheating. Is it really all that wrong? We need to understand that in the West we are in the minority of cultures around the world who do not accept adultery as morally correct. Therefore, maybe we should reconsider was the implication I gathered.

The only way to understand this response though is to understand the worldview it stems from: evolutionary secularism, we just exist, not because of anything creating us as it were, but we just are a bunch of chemical responses. So really what is right and wrong other than what the culture deems it to be? I noticed that he didn’t really give a fair representation of the different ways to understand cheating (secular vs. religious), he simply stated it as if it were an absolute law out there that just is what it is: the morality or immorality of multiple partners is based upon the culture. Where does he derive this from? If we are just the by-product of a bunch of random incidents making us who we are with no design behind any of them, no real purpose, then our understanding of monogamy vs. polygamy will be based purely on the culture in which we are raised because in his worldview there are no absolute moral truths governing the universe outside of ourselves, just like gravity governing that what goes up must come down.

So for us as a culture in the West, we come from a predominantly (though fast-fading) Christian worldview in which adultery is wrong and committed marriages are praised. Yet for this expert, that needs to be questioned on the basis of his premise, that morality only stems from the culture. Why is cheating wrong? Well, who says it really is other than the culture itself, he says? Hmm, maybe God Himself who exists outside of all cultures and dictates moral reality based on Himself and His character? This won’t do though for him though, on the basis of Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” The expert would position his argument that we need to question the morality of adultery as an accepting view of reality that is relativistic and holds to no one view. Yet his view is an absolute position and a view, according to him, we should all take. But there is no way he can account for his worldview to begin with, other than the fact that that is his personal preference (John Hendryx). But this still doesn’t account for the legitimacy of his worldview. We say our worldview is based upon a good and holy God who we’ve offended, who now offers redemption and restoration through His Son offered for us. And from where does he base his secular worldview?

So why do we cheat? The expert would say it’s built into our DNA and only the cultures’ morality dictates whether it is right or wrong. If the culture accepts this wholeheartedly, we will be even more devastated from the inside out than we already are. And in many ways, the culture has accepted it. Think about the moral train wreck the “free love” of the 60’s has cost us. Consider yourselves how many of your parents are now divorced. Most people in this country are single, divorced, cheating, with multiple partners, etc. People say it’s freedom, but really, it has made our culture utterly miserable and left a trail of moral collateral damage in its wake.

The Scriptures say we cheat (or sin period) because deceitfulness, vile, selfishness, and lawlessness are all built into our natures as fallen, depraved humans who are turned away from the glory of God. We need our natures restored in the glory and image of our Creator. This is our only hope. And this is exactly what Christ came to do. He came and lived the perfect life, (particularly in this instance, not once did He commit adultery) in order that He could take our punishment for our many adulteries (mainly against God) upon His shoulders on the cross and give us His perfect moral record through faith alone in Him and His work. This is the only way to truly change from the inside out. And it is the only way to get back on track with His absolute morality and to cease suppressing it in unrighteousness. Only when we have been finally, eternally accepted before the only One in the universe who ultimately matters will we desire to live according to His rules (that is really the best thing for us anyway).

If you want freedom but think freedom is really only obtained by being free from all constraints, including God Himself, then God can let you have that for eternity, apart from His goodness which is expressed in everything you experience that is good and beautiful. All that will be taken away and God will finally say to you who reject the Gospel, “Alright, have it your way, be free from Me.” Turn to the Lord and seek salvation through the cross-work of Christ. This is the true freedom: to be bound to the glory of our Creator in seeing what lengths He has gone in Christ to save those who come to Him through His power and strength.

Christian Heresies Throughout the Ages

By David Westerfield

On March 5, 2008

In Apologetics, Audio, Church History, Theology

http://www.carm.org/heresy.htm

On CARM.org, an excellent apologetic resource defending historic orthodox Christianity, they have a section of heresies that have come along in the history of the church with very short explanations of each. Even nowadays, you will find some form or strain of these heresies in, sadly, most of Protestantism (which has now in many ways radically departed from the Gospel recovered during the Reformation). But you will also see them in deviations of Christianity like Mormonism and the JW’s.

It is not good to absorb these merely for intellectual stimulation, but rather, absorb these in order to defend the Gospel before a dying world (especially within the church, seeing as how that seems to be one of the biggest mission fields in some quarters now) and grow personally in your knowledge of that which is true in the Word of God, to His glory and for your joy in Him.

There is one heresy that they maybe should have included, and that is legalism, which Phil Johnson hits on in this MP3.

Also, I thought this was kind of interesting … Are You a Heretic? – Quiz Yourself

Obama Defends His Christian Religion

By David Westerfield

On March 2, 2008

In Culture, Politics, Theology

Obama defends his Christian religion – News.yahoo.com

Nominal Christianity, that is, Christianity without Jesus as the single greatest of all people above all others for all time; Christianity that sees Jesus as just a man, and not as the God-man who effectually purchased sinners with His blood on the cross, is no Christianity at all. Christianity without Christ at its center, not as just a good teacher or moral founder, but as God Himself come in the flesh, is a utterly dead religion. And it is clear Obama’s form of Christianity is dead because of his stance on something so abominable. I find it contradictory that he claims Christianity as his religion of choice, seeing as how Christianity itself affirms with Proverbs 6:17 that God hates hands that shed innocent blood, mainly because Obama himself has approved of legislation in Illinois in favor of live-birth abortions, which I have spoken of before. He may not himself perform the abortions, but that does not negate his culpability in approving of this horrendous, evil, blatant form of infanticide that the West has ever seen at the legal level.

His passive approval (or even his active approval really) of this act defies the clear implications in Scripture that a heart supernaturally changed by the Holy Spirit will do things that please the Lord (albeit imperfectly), not things that He disdains with all His heart. There is no repentance for Obama concerning abortion (and in particular that form of it), but instead, he continues to fan the flames of something that is eating that heart out of the moral fabric of our society. I find it sad and frightening at some level, that so many high school and college students are buying into this guy wholeheartedly, just because he is such a charismatic, well-spoken individual, speaking the word “change” a thousand times.

Modified at 12:37 pm on 3/3/2008:

Smeared O Has ‘Cross’ Words – Original
Smeared O Has ‘Cross’ Words – Archived

“I pray to Jesus every night and try to go to church as much as I can.”

And this means you are a devout Christian, by living up to a list of moral “do’s” and “don’ts” as your basis for acceptance before God? Seems to me he confuses the Christian worldview understanding of what makes a person right before God with that of Islam. This here, again, demonstrates his misunderstanding of the fundamentals of orthodox Christianity, namely, the Gospel itself. He sees religion, and particularly Christianity, as a works-based religion, along with all the other religions in the world. Okay, so you’re not a Christian. That does not bother me in the least bit that as a non-Christian he is running for office. He has the freedom in this country to do that. But at least be honest about your faith.

The Christian message is the opposite of the world’s other various religions (just pick one). They pretty much all say, “Do this, do that, and you will be accepted by God for eternity in heaven.” But the Gospel, the fundamental heart of the Christian faith says, “We are unable to perform anything right that would please God enough for the degree to which we have offended Him. Therefore, Christ, God Himself, has entered into history as a man to perform that which we would never be able to accomplish by ourselves: moral perfection before the eyes of the Father on behalf of any who would trust Him for their salvation.” In other words, “Through Christ we are accepted, not on the basis of our good works and deeds, but on the basis of His good works and deeds for us, in our place, that we could never measure up to.”

Obama’s statement shows that before God, he has a laundry list of things he sees himself as having done right as payment for any wrongs committed against God’s honor and glory. However, none of his best deeds would ever be able to fish him out of the trouble all of us are in without Christ, because the one offended is infinitely glorious and the honor offended is infinite. You cannot buy off God basically. But Christ fulfilled the law of God out of love for those who trust Him. That is the Christian message. So please, Obama, do not abuse “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” as a means for political gain. That just turns me off even more from you.

Grayson’s Baby Dedication

By David Westerfield

On March 1, 2008

In Personal, Theology, Video

The audio isn’t great, but that’s what I have 🙂

In case you can’t understand …

Ted: “Why are you dedicating Grayson this afternoon, David?”

Me: “Because of ourselves and our abilities as sinners, despite the fact that we commit to showing Grayson the Gospel, we lack the divine power in ourselves to change his heart that he would believe the Gospel. And so, before the Lord and before all of you, we commit not only to raising Grayson in a Christ-centered home, but also entrust him to the power of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, that he would be raised to spiritual life.”

Our verse: “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” – Colossians 1:9-10

The Ultimate Example of Moral Relativism

By David Westerfield

On February 29, 2008

In Apologetics, Audio, Culture, Philosophy, Theology, Video

Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison – APNews.myway.com – Original
Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison – APNews.myway.com – Archived

As Greg Koukl has talked about in a video on moral relativism (that I’m displaying below), a video I’ve wanted so many people I know to see so badly, each system of belief has a pinnacle, ultimate example of what that system produces. For example, the ultimate example of Judaism would be, say, Jesus; the ultimate example of Hinduism, Mahatma Gandhi; the ultimate example of modernistic atheism, Hitler and Stalin, and so on.

What is the end result of secular moral relativism though? Think about it. What does relativism say? All moral truths are equally valid and each person should decide for him or herself what is right and wrong without any outside influences imposed on them giving them direction. What does that ultimately produce? A sociopath, a person with no conscience. It produces a person that in an ultimate form bases the way in which they make choices upon what they think is right and wrong. Is that not what mass murderers do? Rapists? Thieves? “I think things should be this way and I will make it happen.” They are deciding for themselves what is right and wrong, aren’t they?

Why is the number of people in prison so high? And why are we the nation with the most people in jail per capita, more than any other nation!? Because moral relativism, evangelistically spread and lobbied for by secularists in our society (thus imposing their moral views on the collective society), particularly within major urban areas, is corrupting our society from the inside out and the statistics in the article above prove that to be the case. We have more and more people running around thinking they determine what’s right and wrong (that there are no moral absolutes) and we are now morally and spiritually bankrupt as a result. And it is getting worse. Teens are growing up in broken homes, looking for answers, and then they hear from teachers, “You decide what’s best for you.” That is culturally frightening on a macro scale. Just as modernistic atheism produced characters like Hitler and Stalin, so postmodern atheism will produce people on an equal plain, excluding anyone who would hold to any form of absolute divine moral truth outside of themselves (which by the way is the only logical explanation for why something IS absolutely and definitively wrong, like the hacking up of babies in Africa by genocidal tribes).

And we think this is going to get better with one of the most extremely morally relativistic Presidents to ever possibly enter the White House, setting the tone for the rest of the country? I think not. “Change” is not always a good thing my friends. May we turn to Christ and ask for His mercy to 1) revolutionize people’s thinking with the Gospel, and 2) prepare believers for hardship endured in the face of possibly being excluded for being exclusive. It’s already beginning to happen in Britain in the form of law suits. And it will soon be here if cultural patterns continue to mirror that of Europe.

To download the audio from this video in MP3 format, click here.

I AM WHO I AM, I Mercy Whom I Mercy

By David Westerfield

On February 20, 2008

In Theology

“Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”‘” – Exodus 3:13-14

“Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name “The LORD.” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.'” – Exodus 33:18-19

In each of these sets of verses, Moses requests something of God and God responds with a grammatically identical statement about the essence of who He is. In the first set of verses in Exodus 3, Moses basically asks, “What is your name?” And the Lord’s response is, “I AM WHO I AM.” In the second set in Exodus 33, Moses asks God to show him His glory, His essence, as John Piper says, Moses wants to see the essentialness of God. What is it that defines the very heart of the glory of God? And the Lord’s response, is, “I will make my goodness pass before you … [and then He says, and this is the important part] I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” In a very simple layout of both of these sets of questions and answers,

Moses:”Who are you?” God:”I AM WHO I AM” Moses:”What is the essence of your glory?” God:”I have mercy on whom I have mercy.”

In the first response by God concerning His name, He makes a circular statement that He is the supreme authority, He always has been, always will be the infinitely powerful, almighty God, and that there are none like Him. The reason it is circular is because there is no higher authority by which to authenticate Himself. He authenticates Himself. “I AM WHO I AM.” He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. “I AM WHO I AM.” All things flow from Him and through Him and to Him. He is the infinite source of Himself, with no beginning and no ending. “I AM WHO I AM.” So much is contained within this statement about who God is. You cannot put Him in a box. You cannot contain Him or size Him up. He is simply beyond anything we can possibly comprehend. He has made known to us everything we need to know about Himself in His Word. The Scriptures reveal to us what we need to know as essentials concerning Him, though He is infinitely unknowable. “I AM WHO I AM,” is a perfect example. This statement is mind boggling and should cause us to sit in awe at who God really is, not who we want Him to be, which is an excellent bridging thought to the next point.

In second response concerning His glory, God is making a clear definition that strikes at the very heart of our disposition before Him: He is God, we are not. He created us for His purposes, not our own. That is a humbling reality for sinners who want to be their own god’s, namely, all of us. “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” This statement makes it clear that it is He who grants mercy toward sinners of His choice. Paul uses this very verse to lay out God’s sovereignty in salvation in Romans 9. We are vessels in the Potters’ hands. God is who He is, and He (literally in the Hebrew, according to John Piper) [mercies] whom He will [mercy]. In this verse, mercy in the Hebrew is used as a verb, not a noun, where God acts to accomplish something. This “mercying” is an act of God whereby He preserves whom He pleases from eternal destruction. It was accomplished ultimately through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It is His choice whom He desires to turn from their unbelief and believe in Christ. We are in God’s debt as sinners and if He chooses not to act to preserve us and leave us in our rebellion and evil disposition toward Him, who are we to ask why? Do we not deserve wrath for the way we treat Him and His honor? So is God obligated to save and have mercy? No. God does what He pleases and has pure, excellent, and holy reasons for doing what He does. This is the very essence of what it means to be God according to this verse: He determines man’s destiny, and none can stay His hand or say to Him, “What are you doing?” (Daniel 4:35) And at the same time, the Scriptures clearly affirm that man is solely responsible for his rebellion. God is sovereign, man is responsible, is the most concise way to put it. The Scriptures confirm both of these truths, yet how they come together is not revealed.

“I [mercy] whom I [mercy].” Just let that sink in along with, “I AM WHO I AM.” This is the very definition of who God is by God Himself! We would do well to pay attention to it, as uncomfortable as it may be.

This is so hard for the sinful human soul to accept though because it seems dehumanizing for God to have that kind of ultimate power over us. As naturally depraved humans, we want to be free from all constraints, especially when it pertains to our eternal destinies. We want control, we want the reigns. Is that not the air we breathe in this country? It appears to many as if God is just mean and arbitrarily saves some and not others. This thinking is in error though. The Bible paints a completely different picture than what sinful man would come up with from his own “brilliant” thinking (namely Greek Determinism). God has had an overarching plan from eternity to bring about the most glory for Himself. To do anything less would be to dishonor His own name, and for Him to be God, He must glorify Himself to the uttermost. Let’s consider again what the verse is saying: “I [mercy] whom I [mercy].” This sounds strangely familiar to Paul’s language in Ephesians 1:5-6, “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” There is one key phrase there we should hone in on: “to the praise of His glorious grace.”

So we return to Moses’ question, “What is the essence of your glory?” And God’s unfolded response in the New Testament is, “My gracious choice of sinners to be saved by my grace through faith in the cross of Jesus.” The essence, the essential glory of God is in his glorious grace, clearly demonstrated through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, on behalf of His chosen people. How beautiful! And it was planned from all eternity, before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). God has purposes in what He does that are always right, even if we cannot fathom them, even if we are scared by them. He is God, we are not. Bow before your Maker and mourn for your wickedness and beg Him to turn your heart to love Christ either for the first time, or if you do believe, for greater love for Him that you may find increasing rest, joy and peace in His presence.

To really see see the essence of the glory of God as revealed in these passages is to fear Him as we should and this causes us to flee to Christ for cleansing and mercy to change and conform to His image. We have no other hope, for there is no other name by which we are saved, as well as forever changed. However, at the same time, through Christ, we have no reason to fear God in His great wrath because we have been absolutely accepted on the basis of Christ’s perfect work, not ours, obtained through faith alone. So we do fear God as the One who could have passed over us and who will execute wrath when Christ returns to judge man, and we don’t fear at the same time because of Christ’s work to save us from the eternal destruction we all rightly deserve. It is a reverential fear, keeping us from sin because we know how injurious it is to 1) His glory when we rebel against Him, but also 2) His glorious grace in Christ toward us. But it is also an assured hope that if God is for us who can be against us?

If this Gospel is at the center of your life, that God is for you despite your willful sinfulness and rebellion, think about how your worldview, your day to day perspective on every part of life would be radically changed (myself included, may God have mercy on me, a sinner). It is this Gospel that produces true heart-change, true repentance from wickedness, when we see the depths of how awful we really are, and yet how great is the love of God in the work of Christ for sinners. It is the same Gospel I myself must return to continually because of the proneness of my own heart to sin. Ask for God to sink the truths of the Gospel deep within your soul to change you in every area of your life. He did not have to “mercy” you who believe, He chose to out of eternal love. To the praise of His glorious grace!

Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray – A Review

By David Westerfield

On February 18, 2008

In Reviews, Theology

This book is an excellent, concise theological work on Christ’s atoning work on the cross and how it is applied to the life of believers to save them, from its very inception until its final consummation. It is absolutely essential for believers to understand the depths of the value of the work of Christ on the cross and how that saves them, from the first granting of faith, to our glorification with Christ at His revelation when He returns to judge the world in righteousness. If we do not understand from the details given in the Scriptures of how we were saved, how we persevere in our faith (by Christ’s power in us), and what will become of us in the end, we will not appreciate how amazing the plan of God has been from all eternity to save His people.

The first part of the book, consisting of five chapters, deals with the atonement of Christ, particularly its necessity, its nature, its perfection, its extent, and finally concluding remarks on the subject. The second part then deals with the Ordo Salutis, that is, the order of salvation. Before you even go into the Ordo Salutis though, you must first grasp the presentation of the work of Christ on our behalf in the Word. A fundamental misunderstanding at this point affects ultimately how you view that work applied to the life of the believer. I will not go into this here; you will just have to read the book. 🙂

In the second part, Murray shows from Scripture the process from beginning to end of how Christ’s work is applied to us.

1) The believer to be saved by the atoning work of Christ is first effectually called by the Holy Spirit through the indiscriminate preaching of the Gospel.

2) Then, by the power of God alone in that call to salvation, the sinner to be saved is regenerated out of that state of sin we are all naturally born in, under the blindness and hardness of the wrath of God; that is by nature we were children of wrath like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:3).

3) Next, as a result of this regenerative work of the Holy Spirit, faith and repentance are produced in the soul (by Christ’s atoning work), where the sinner desires Christ more than their sin, seeing it as repulsive and Christ as a beautiful and merciful Savior. In this work of the Spirit, we are given eyes to see, ears to hear, our hearts of stone are effectually taken out and a heart of flesh is put in its place that is loving, obedient and responsive to God, fulfilling the word of the Spirit spoken in Ezekiel 36:26-27.

4) Then as a result of this faith in Christ granted as a gift by the Father (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 6:44) that we may surely be saved, we are justified and counted righteous by Christ’s work on our behalf.

5) Next, because of our justification, we are received into the fellowship of the saved, as a child of God, adopted into His kingdom as fellow heirs with Christ.

6) Over the life of the believer, sanctification occurs and the redeemed in Christ are progressively (albeit imperfectly) made more into His image (though this process is never perfected in this life until we die, which always keeps us in a humble state of empty-handedness before Him knowing we can only receive that which is granted by His loving hand).

7) As a result of the supernatural faith-sustaining power of God over the believers’ life, never shall they turn back and abandon their Savior and thus be lost because they are born anew, adopted and can never lose that status. However it is not by their power but God’s sustaining them.

The flip side of this coin though, or the negative side, is that if you see no supernatural, progressive, effectual work in your life (though not perfect of course!) and yet claim Christ as your Lord, it may be you don’t have divine faith imparted by God, something the Scriptures tell us to confirm (Philippians 2:12, 2 Peter 1:5-11). A truly saved person will always be supernaturally changed by the work of God. To say otherwise is to call God’s work of giving people new birth (i.e. spiritual birth from among the dead) a lie. The new birth always creates a new person, redeemed in the image of Christ (though, again, not perfect). No saved person permanently slides into and continues in deadly, soul-destroying unbelief concerning the things of God, manifested in visible evidences of blatant, perpetual sinning (i.e. the Carnal Christian heresy, spoken against clearly in 1 John). God will always work to preserve the saved by His power, and though they may stumble in grave sin even, God will always work to bring them back to Himself.

– Before speaking on glorification in the final chapter, Murray discusses how in each of these points within the sinner that is being saved, they are all in relation to our being united to Christ. This is important to note because each of these can seem to be separate from Him in some fashion. But rather, each of these is directly as a result of our being united to Him, and this unity pervades every point of the life of the believer, from beginning to end.

8) Finally, Murray makes the important note that many view glorification as occurring simply at death. However, he makes very clear that final glorification occurs when our bodies are reunited with our souls and we are resurrected from the death in the same manner as Christ was raised from the dead. He notes that it is a grave error to simply think of glorification in terms of just being done with this life and going to be with Christ (though that is definitely part of it). Rather he shows how we need to always be looking forward to the final resurrection when everything will be made anew and all of His people will be without sin, and we can enjoy our Savior forever in His presence, our greatest joy in all things.

This is an excellent book and should be read by every believer as a part of basic Christian curriculum because of how the process of our salvation in Christ is laid out so eloquently and beautifully by Murray.

Here is a link to order the book now on MonergismBooks.com:
http://www.monergismbooks.com/Redemptio … 16909.html

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins

By David Westerfield

On February 16, 2008

In Theology

“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins … Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” – Hebrews 9:22, 15

It is posited by many that God can either forgive sins or pay the debt for them, but that he cannot do both at the same time. The verses above speak utterly to the contrary though, particularly the statement, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” This seems to indicate that God forgives sinners their infinite debt against Him precisely through a blood-shed sacrifice. And even more precisely in Hebrews, Christ is the long-awaited, final sacrifice of the Old Testament that has secured an eternal redemption by His blood because it is of infinite value and worth, offered on behalf of “those who are called” by the Father (John 6:44), in order that they “may receive the promised eternal inheritance.”

It is imperative to see that God doesn’t do either a sacrifice or just forgive without any reference to how His honor and holiness have been disdained, but rather that it is through this willing sacrifice, namely that of Christ’s on the cross, that He forgives us our debt. It is the only way to have peace with God now and for eternity. For those who believe, this should make us weep to consider what it cost Christ to be cut off from the land of the living so that God could have us as His own possession for eternity, when we were owed, deserved wrath forever. What awesome, free mercy is in the cross!

In the evangelical world, a majority of us want to think of God in merely “lovey dovey” terms alone without the uncomfortable truth of what we deserve and the horror of what it took for Christ on the cross to bear our wrath in Himself. Oh what cost to Christ, we cannnot even plum the depths of how it hurt deep within His being to be cut off from such an infinitely intertwined loving relationship with the Father from eternity!

God is holy, burning with justice and must make His glory and honor the highest priority in the universe, because, well, He’s God, and to say that anything else in the universe is of greater value would be a lie. Our sinning against Him makes a statement about how we value His name and honor: we spit in His face and consider His name worthless and attempt to establish our own name and honor above His. Pure vile. But He is an all-consuming fire that never burns out, that will consume His adversaries who will not repent of this evil (Hebrews 10:26-27), and we are decrepit, God-hating, sinful children of wrath by nature (prior to conversion by the Spirit), even when to ourselves and each other we may look morally decent (on our terms, not the Lord’s). The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament though and He has not changed one ounce in His glorious justice. In the New Testament, the only difference is that Christ has fulfilled all that was spoken in the Old Testament concerning the coming, final sacrifice for sinners, through faith and trust in that work. The point is, we are owed wrath not mercy. To say God owes us anything is to put Him at our feet, but He will not remain there. In fact, the very meaning of mercy is, “not receiving something you deserve.” This is only granted by the Father. Beg Him for it on your knees if you have not been forgiven your debt against Him.

We offend God deeply with the ways in which we ignore Him in even our religious acts many times (let alone our blatantly God-hating acts). But how wonderful it is that through the eternally valuable sacrificial atonement of Christ alone we can stand in His presence without being obliterated by His sheer majesty. Considering this from Scripture should humble us and melt our hearts. And even more than that though, we can stand, by His life’s work for us, having not only our infinite debts paid, but also having obtained for ourselves the reward Christ is owed for His perfect work offered to the Father for us. It gets no better than this. And on top of that, we find the true, deep soul satisfaction we are all longing for!

Instead of the wrath that should have been ours, not only do we have that removed from us through faith in Christ, but even better, we gain His infinitely valuable reward, fellowship with God for eternity! There is no joy greater than to be in the presence of the very being through which all that we enjoy came into existence! How wonderful. It is as if those who trust Him as their righteousness-replacement have never committed an evil act because He forgave the guilt of their sin by taking its consequence in Himself and then counted them righteous through His perfect life rendered to the Father. This is the Gospel, the wonderful work of Christ to unite those who believe to Himself.

This is the catalyst for all real life-change, growth in grace, knowledge in holiness and righteousness, all of which is revealed in Scripture. We cannot forgive, we cannot live in holiness before God, that is honoring Him in all we do, until this sets in and affects our souls from the inside out. In every way that we sin, it reveals the truth of our hearts, that is, it reveals ways in which we have not grasped the Gospel deeply enough in all our thinking and doing, at the most fundamental levels. But so goes the life of the believer, the perpetual struggle to fight for joy in Christ against the flesh with the amazing reality of the Gospel. Ask the Lord to open your heart and send His Spirit to reveal Jesus to you and His work in His life, death, and resurrection. It is your only hope to change and progress in holiness at all.

I have no other point with this article than to just praise God for the forgiveness offered through the sacrifice of Christ. I implore you to consider the depths of your sin (that is, ways in which you have ignored or shaken your fist at the glory of God) and the depths of God’s love for sinners through the cross. Do not harden your hearts against this, but deeply consider these things. Do not think of God as having loved us by just loving us. Think of what it cost God to love you. Think about what you are owed. You were not owed mercy but wrath. God is in no way obligated to show anyone mercy. If you believe, it was only by the grace of God that you were rescued from this plight that befalls us all, namely hardness in sin and unbelief, resulting in eternal wrath under the condemnation of God. It took infinite forgiveness on the part of God through the sacrifice of Christ so that we could be reconciled to God! God had to become man, so that as a man He could do what Adam failed to do, and then as a result, we could be saved and experience glory and joy in the presence of God forever.